Please join us for our first weekend happy hour! Since our group has been growing so fast, we've seen so much interest in our events that we've had to limit space at the majority of them. It's been a while since our entire group has been able to get together without restrictions or waitlists. So a few times a year, we'll be holding special events (such as happy hours, picnics, parties, etc.) so that we can all get together to mingle and socialize and to meet members we may not have shared an event with yet.

We'll also be using this time to hold a book swap. If you have any science fiction or fantasy books that you're no longer interested in keeping, please bring them to trade or pass on to other members. This is a great way to discover new authors (and help others do the same), while clearing space on your bookshelves!

We'll also have some great giveaways, including 5 hardcover copies of The Scar by Sergey & Marina Dyachenko! This award-winning Ukrainian-born couple is a huge hit in Russia and Europe, and this is the first english translation of their work, and has gotten strong reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, and Library Journal. If you'd like to whet your appetite, their award-winning short story "The Burned Tower" is free for Kindle (and for Nook).

World Book Night 2012 is April 23rd this year, and is meant to promote adult reading and turn on new or light readers to great books. We'll have 20 copies of Ender's Game by Orson Scott card available, if you'd like to gift one to a friend or child who you'd like to introduce to science fiction.

This was a LOT of fun. Thanks to everyone who made it out. I hope you all had a great time and are looking forward to the picnic in July. :-) Also, thanks to everyone who participated in the book swap. I hope everyone enjoys the books and authors they discovered.

This worked REALLY well! I got a chance to meet some member that I'd never seen before, and to get to know new members as well. It was a lot of fun. And, having a book-swap was a really cool thing! Good times!

Just wanted to remind everyone that: (a) Houlihan's is part of the Springfield Hilton, (b) we're doing a book swap, so please bring any sci-fi & fantasy books you'd like to clear off your shelves, (c) we will be giving away copies of "The Scar", & (d) we will also have copies of "Ender's Game" if you'd like to gift them to a friend or relative who doesn't read much & you'd like to turn on to science fiction.

We're a diverse group of readers of all ages and backgrounds, meeting twice a month for book discussions. Every second Sunday (usually) we discuss a fantasy selection, alternating between traditional and urban/contemporary fantasy each month. Every fourth Sunday (usually) we discuss a science fiction selection, alternating between classic and modern sci-fi. We've seen so much interest in our book selections, we also open up morning discussion sessions 1-2 weeks before an event to give new members a chance to attend.

Our discussions tend to range across topics, comparing and contrasting to other novels, drawing parallels to science, history, world cultures, politics, religion, or philosophy, and generally tangenting wherever the conversation takes us, often towards unexpected epiphanies ("Carrot Top is the herald of the apocalypse").

If you want a stodgy, pretentious literary critique, this probably isn't for you. But if you're looking for a great group of interesting people who share your love of speculative fiction, and if you want to explore and enjoy laid-back and engaging discussions of new authors, subgenres, and series, come by for one of our meetups. Even if you don't make it all the way through a book (or at all), you're still welcome to join us and enjoy a fun afternoon. Come to laugh, share stories and make new friends!

We also, from time to time, attend author events, hold fun dinners, watch movies together in the theatre, or do screenings of DVDs (fantasy classics, anime, wuxia, Sundance films) or TV shows (such as "Game of Thrones"), and take trips to special events, like the Maryland Renaissance Festival or various conventions (Balticon, WorldCon, CapClave, Dragon*Con, World Fantasy Convention, to name a few). We occasionally attend plays together (if they have a sci-fi or fantasy bent). We hold a monthly writers meetup for aspiring authors, as well as participate in NaNoWriMo and hold an annual writers retreat. We hold a karaoke party, a laser tag outing, a summer picnic, and a Halloween party every year. We also hold an annual charity drive. And as always, we have even more exciting exciting new things in store for the future.